Billing for your organic store in Delhi
The society gate's pickup table, the weekend market stall and the shelf draw from one stock.
Why a Delhi organic shop's society pickup, look-alike grains and mango bookings never match the stock
Three gated societies, three pickup days, one packing table
Your customers live in a handful of gated societies, and each society has its own day: one on Tuesday, one on Thursday, one on Saturday. You pack the baskets for each at your own table, carry them to the society gate, and hand them over to the families who come down. A basket for the wrong society, or a name that was ticked but never packed, is found at the gate with the family standing in front of you.
Grains that look alike in half-kilo bags, and a family that wants a particular one
Ragi, jowar, bajra and a few other grains sit in bags of the same size on the same shelf, and a family with a diabetic parent asks for one of them by name. The helper hands over the one he thinks is right. The bags look alike, the tags peel, and the count of each grain is a guess until one is gone and a customer is told it will come next week.
Mangoes booked in April with a little money, delivered in June
A farm group offers its mangoes in a season that lasts a few weeks, and customers who want them book in April and pay a part. The booking is on a slip, the fruit comes in June, and by then you are asked which families booked, how much each paid, and who has not yet collected. The slips are in three places.
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Farm groups whose stalls and online shop share one count
From the society gate's Thursday pickup to the ragi that is not mistaken for bajra
Each society's pickup is a list, and the packer ticks it off as the basket is made
Orders from your online shop come to you with the society and the family on them. On the pickup day, the packer works down that society's orders, and each basket is billed as it is made and sent on WhatsApp to the family. Nothing is carried to the gate unbilled.
Each grain is its own item, so the ragi is counted apart from the bajra
Make each grain in its half-kilo bag its own item with its own rate and its own count. The bill names the grain, the stock of that grain goes down, and the low-stock warning is for the one that is running out, not for grains in general. The family that asks for ragi gets ragi.
The mango booking is on the family's page, with the part paid in April
Make a page for each family that books mangoes and note what it paid. In June the page shows the booking, the part paid and the part to come, and the fruit goes out against it. You answer who has not collected by opening the pages.
Tools for a shop with a society gate, a Sunday stall and a farm in the next state
Many shops, one owner
The Sunday stall at the farmers' market, the weekday shelf and the society's pickup table counted as three places under one account.
Online orders
A family orders its week's ragi and jaggery from your shop page, and the order shows what to bring from the back room.
Low stock warnings
A warning when the mango crates run low in their few weeks, before a family that booked is told there is none.
Credit book (khata)
A page for each society family that pays after pickup, with what it owes read off the page when it comes again.
Questions Delhi organic shop owners ask about society pickups, look-alike grains and the night truck
The packer is late on pickup day and the families are waiting at the gate. In what order do I hand over?
Hand over the baskets that are already billed first, since they are ready. The orders not yet billed are packed next, one society at a time, and the families told how long. The list shows which names are left, so nobody is called twice.
A family wants the same two grains for the diabetic parent every month. Can the basket repeat?
Not by itself. The two grains for the diabetic parent must be exactly the same every month, since a different grain is no small mistake. Pack those two, read their names out to the family, and put the bill on WhatsApp so the family can check the bag.
Two families in one society ask for the same grain at the same time and there is one bag left. Whose order is first?
The earlier order. Pack it, and tell the other family the grain is finished before it walks to the gate.
The driver says the whole order is there, but I count fewer sacks. Which number goes in?
The one you counted at the door. The driver's word is a claim, and your count is the sacks in front of you. Make the bill from what you count, and say the number to the driver while he is still there.
What Delhi searched for in the monsoon of 2024, and where it shops on Sunday
Between June and August 2024, Justdial searches for organic food in Delhi rose 55% on the previous quarter, and searches for organic food retailers rose 100%. A shop that people search for answers with its list and its rates, and the lots on the shelf are the first things they ask about.
The Earth Collective organic market runs every Sunday morning at Asiad Village, Siri Fort, selling fresh farm produce, organic jams, natural fertilisers and earthenware, said a 2021 Homegrown guide. A seller who keeps a table at a market like this has two places to count: the table on Sunday and the shelf for the rest of the week.